These startups are innovating with customised services, and also attracting investor interest.

"I realised the value of custom made items - whether it is shoes or gifts or jewellery - among customers today. I also wanted to dispel the myth that all custom-made items are highly expensive," said Raj Iyer, founder of Pune-based icustommadeit.com, who started the venture two years back when he realised the ring worn by an acquaintance was customised, and cost Rs 6 lakh.

"On our platform, someone wanting a customised item can simply upload a picture or design of the product and get it customised by connecting with any of the artists on board with us. They can also pick up a product uploaded by an artist or customise the product in a different colour, texture etc," said Iyer, who started commercial operations this year.

The venture has 1,500 bespoke artists from urban and rural areas, and has seen over 1,000 customers buy through the platform. It’s looking at Rs 13-crore turnover in the next eight to 10 months. The venture has raised investment of $650,000 (Rs 4.3 crore) in total through three rounds of angel investment.

Aparna Pittie, a director at a big four accounting firm, participated in third round of angel investing of icustommadeit.com. "There are companies such as Etsy, which is a global parallel, and has become a billion dollar company and went in for an IPO too. Hence, the potential for these platforms to grow is immense as more customers are looking for personalisation at affordable rates," she said.

World Art Community is a peer-to-peer platform connecting artists and craftsmen with customers. "On our platform, once our team of designers whet and approve of an artist, we allow the artists to control their exhibition and pricing. We intervene with suggestions after tracking buyer behaviour towards the various products. We enable the artists to sell with the help of our tech platform and interact with the buyers. This also allows for customisation of the products," said founder Shobhit Arora, who went live with the venture in December 2014.

The platform now has 30,000 merchandise and sees eight to 12 transactions per day. "We have products ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 4.5 lakh, and generally target the customer segment of Rs 15 to 20 lakh annual income," said Arora, who is looking to tie up with NGOs to reach out to more craftsmen and artists in remote areas.

The company is targeting a gross merchandise value of Rs 1 crore per month in the next three months and looks to have 2,000 artists on board. The venture raised $200,000 (Rs 1.3 crore) in funding through angel investors recently.

The handloom and handicraft sector is expected to grow at 16% annually in the 2013-17 period as per the National Skill Development Corp. Indian handicrafts exports stood at $4.5 billion in 2014-15, according to the Brand Equity Foundation.

Caravan Craft Retail similarly works with artisans, training them to create traditional products with modern relevance to catch the eye of discerning buyers.